deported

by Micah Harris
(Visit Micah's blog for more of his writing)
I now have something in common with many of my heroes; I have been a political prisoner. It was brief, so I cannot claim the badge of deep human suffering worn by so many great souls. But I have slept on the filthy concrete floor of a crowded jail between the bodies of petty criminals, a wall of cold iron set in concrete, and a bucket of stale urine. I have woken up to be yelled at without food and to face a new set of accusations from a new set of people than those who picked me up the night before.

It never was about me or my supposed crimes. The Government of Malawi used my arrest and deportation as the opening salvo in a campaign of police threats and intimidation that included locking up over two dozen street-level supporters of independent presidential candidate James Nyondo on sham accusations of “disturbing the peace” and “loitering.”

Like mine, these arrests were strategically timed on the eve of the four-day Easter weekend so that they could be held for several days without court supervision. (Perhaps the authorities missed the irony of arresting people on the same night as Jesus and using a holy day to perpetrate sham justice against those who are guilty of nothing except “disturbing the peace” of a government that is afraid of losing its grasp on power.)

In my case, the “Honorable Earnest Malenga, Minister responsible for Home Affairs and Internal Security” signed a deportation order declaring that it “is in the interest of public safety and order” that I be deported from Malawi. The letter is dated March 26, 2009 but Malawians were subjected to this ongoing risk to “public safety and order” for another two weeks until the all-important Easter weekend with its rich history of suspended justice.

When I first spent time in Malawi and lent my abilities as a donation to independent presidential candidate James Nyondo, there were kind people who explained to me a simple fact of African politics; the incumbent always wins. They stated it with the same combination of patience and frustration that they would use to explain that I should be careful to avoid the mosquitoes because they cause Malaria — something anyone with half a brain would have known if he did his homework before going to Africa. History bears out their point well. It also bears the point that Saudi women are treated like some version of pornography that must be kept in opaque wrapping and personally carried by the owner if it is to be let out of a dark room in the back of the building. The problem is that history tells us what is, not what ought to be.

In Malawi’s case, President Bingu wa Mutharika’s government has flirted with repression for some time. They have repeatedly arrested the President’s avowed nemesis (and one time mentor) Bakili Muluzi for corruption and even once on a baseless accusation of treason. The Malawi Electoral Commission, under suspicious influences, abruptly raised the ballot registration fee to MK 100,000 ($700) for parliamentary candidates. This is a fabulous amount of money in one of the world’s ten poorest countries. It bars most people without government resources from the ballot and, at a minimum, drains the opposition’s campaign coffers at the outset. The electoral commission also deliberately refused to rule on Muluzi’s disputed candidacy until they knew it would be too late to appeal their decision before ballots were printed. Besides these new and fresh abuses, the Mutharika government also continues the tradition of maintaining the public radio and television stations as propaganda tools for the ruling party.

Going into the May 19 elections, the humble country of Malawi — known mostly to Madonna and her fans — is teetering perilously toward a repressive police state. The question for the international community, the government of Malawi, and the people of Malawi is whether they are committed to rising above a neighborhood that includes Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and Mozambique. Or are they resigned to the “fact” that, in Africa, the incumbent always wins at any cost? Are the leaders, the diplomats, and the international donors content with a status quo that keeps them comfortable at the expense of a population that is dying of AIDS, Cholera, dysentery, lack of food, and unattended births? Does the international community share the Government’s view that opposition supporters, by their mere existence, are “disturbing the peace”? How much longer can they say nothing and still maintain that they are committed to a “free and fair election”?

During Holy Week, Christians remember a story of despair and hope. We have yet to see which of these will win in Malawi’s elections.

(Visit Micah's blog for more of his writing)